Baseball scouts watch Bearcats work out

For the ninth straight year, Binghamton University baseball hosted Scout Day and the 2010 edition attracted members of nine professional teams as well as the Major League Baseball Scouting Bureau. The turnout on Sept. 23 was strong, a nod to the program’s recent success and string of draft picks and high-level signees.

Head coach Tim Sinicki put his players through an orchestrated workout in front of scouts from the Colorado Rockies, Cincinnati Reds, Tampa Bay Rays, Cleveland Indians, Seattle Mariners, Boston Red Sox, California Angels, Philadelphia Phillies and Florida Marlins plus the Bureau.

The workout included position players running the 60-yard dash; position players fielding and throwing from predetermined areas; pre-game infield/outfield and batting practice; catchers throwing to second base; and bullpen sessions for the pitchers.

“This is always an outstanding opportunity for the players in our program to showcase their skills to the professional scouts,” Sinicki said. “I was extremely happy with the way the guys performed on both offense and defense as well as on the mound.”

In the last five years, 13 Bearcats baseball players have signed professional contracts, highlighted by former pitcher Scott Diamond, who this past summer earned a promotion to Triple-A Gwinnett (Atlanta Braves) and appears on the cusp of the Major Leagues.

“As a program, we are committed to providing our players with the necessary opportunities for exposure to professional scouts through events like Scout Day, a challenging non-conference schedule and the always demanding America East Conference schedule,” Sinicki said. “I am also very grateful to the organizations who came to campus for Scout Day. I know for a fact that those gentlemen walked away pleased with what they saw and will return in the spring to watch our guys in action.”

The defending regular-season conference champion Bearcats open their season with a three-game series at Virginia Military Academy, February 25-27.